NEW YORK -- After searching for most of the 1990s, the New York Mets finally got their ace.

In a surprising trade they hope will put them back in the World Series for the first time since 1986, the Mets acquired 22-game winner Mike Hampton from the Houston Astros on Thursday along with slumping outfielder Derek Bell.

ESPN.com analysis

You've got to give Astros GM Gerry Hunsicker credit -- when he dumps salary, he does it right. First he sends Carl Everett, who probably will make in the neighborhood of $5 million next season then become a free agent, to the Red Sox, and gets back a top shortstop prospect. And now he trades Mike Hampton and Derek Bell, both of them free agents after the 2000 season, to the Mets, and gets back a pair of low-paid, quality major leaguers. Of course, neither Cedeño nor Dotel are sure things. If Cedeño can keep his on-base percentage near .400, as it was last season, he's a heckuva player, a perfect leadoff man for the Astros. If not, he's just another outfielder with no power. Dotel's got a great arm and could be a great pitcher, but the fact is that his ERA with the Mets last year was 5.38. Still, for a team that doesn't have an unlimited budget, this is a wonderful deal. As for the Mets, they apparently needed a replacement for Bobby Bonilla, and Derek Bell fills the bill nicely, in every respect. Hampton will be a welcome addition, all the more so if the Mets are able to re-sign him. -- Rob Neyer

In exchange, the Mets send Houston outfielder Roger Cedeño, rookie right-hander Octavio Dotel and minor league left-hander Kyle Kessel.

"It's a little bit overwhelming, a little bit shocking," Hampton said. "It seems like it all happened rather quickly."

The 27-year-old left-hander was 22-4 with a 2.90 ERA last season, winning 11 straight decisions and finishing finished second to Arizona's Randy Johnson in voting for the NL Cy Young Award.

"We've waited for this opportunity for a long time to secure a starter of Mike Hampton's ilk," Mets general manager Steve Phillips said. "We had to step up and do this."

Hampton was second in the majors in wins, one behind Boston's Pedro Martinez (23-4) and third in the NL in ERA behind Johnson (2.48) and Atlanta's Kevin Millwood (2.68). His 177 strikeouts were ninth in the league.

"He's one competitive, nasty pitcher," Mets manager Bobby Valentine said. "The first time I heard Mike Hampton was available, I thought it was some type of ploy to have everyone go to Houston to see what was available."

The Mets had been searching for an ace to join a staff that includes Al Leiter (13-12), Rick Reed (11-5), Masato Yoshii (12-8) and Bobby Jones (3-3). New York made no effort to re-sign Orel Hershiser (13-12) and Kenny Rogers (5-1), who became free agents.

Hampton has one year left on his contract at $5.75 million and the Astros tried to sign him to a multiyear deal after the season.

But he said he wanted to test free agency next November and Houston, which has won three straight NL Central titles, concluded Hampton wanted more than the team could afford.

"It hit us between the eyes. I was shocked at his stance," Astros general manager Gerry Hunsicker said. "I didn't see it coming and in my mind it forced our hand."

New York asked Houston for a 72-hour window to try to sign Hampton to an extension, but the Astros refused. The Mets intend to offer an extension and Hampton, while saying he didn't want to deal with money for a while, didn't say he was adverse to it.

"The idea for us is try to keep him here beyond," Phillips said. "When that happens, that's for another day. Certainly, we'd like to keep a pitcher like this in a Mets' uniform."

Hampton is 70-43 with a 3.50 ERA in the majors, and while his career record at Shea Stadium is just 2-3, he's dominated there lately.

After losing his first three decisions at New York, giving up six runs in each game, he was 1-0 in two starts this year, allowing two runs and seven hits in 15 innings.

"It's an exciting place to play. The fans are really into the game. It gets you pumped up," Hampton said.

Several people who had spoken with the teams said Houston made taking Bell off its hands the price of getting Hampton.

"It wasn't a prerequisite, but it helped us through the process in a more timely fashion," Phillips said.

	How the teams shape up
	Astros lineup	Mets lineup
	CF Roger Cedeno	LF R.Henderson
	2B Craig Biggio	2B E. Alfonzo
	1B Jeff Bagwell	3B Robin Ventura
	3B Ken Caminiti	C Mike Piazza
	LF M. Alou/D. Ward	1B Todd Zeile
	RF L. Berkman/R. Hidalgo	RF Derek Bell
	C M. Meluskey/T. Eusebio	CF Darryl Hamilton
	SS Adam Everett	SS Rey Ordonez
	Astros rotation	Mets rotation
	Jose Lima	Mike Hampton
	Shane Reynolds	Al Leiter
	Scott Elarton	Rick Reed
	Octavio Dotel	Masato Yoshii
	Chris Holt/Wade Miller	Bobby Jones

Bell lost his starting job with the Astros by the end of the season after hitting only .236 with 12 homers and 66 RBI, and manager Larry Dierker became disenchanted with him.

When Dierker returned in July following brain surgery and dropped Bell to sixth in the batting order, Bell called it a "slap in the face" and said "I'm to the point now that I feel like I'm not wanted."

Bell ripped Dierker on Thursday, and said he hoped to do well to show the Astros made a mistake.

"The first time I had an off year in my career, everybody turned their back on me," Bell said. "I'm going to try to turn it around on them."

In 1998, Bell hit .314 with 22 homers and 108 RBI. He gets $5 million next year and is eligible for free agency after the season.

"Christmas came early for me," he said. "I'm very happy. I told my agent I'm going to run, I'm so excited. The first thing that comes to my mind is I have a chance to be in the World Series. In this big old lineup I'm in, I'm the small guy."

In April 1994, when playing with San Diego in New York, Bell and teammate Scott Sanders were arrested, with Bell accused of offering an undercover female police officer $20 for oral sex. The charges were dismissed that October as legally "insufficient."

Cedeño and Dotel had been offered by the Mets to Seattle earlier this month in talks involving Ken Griffey Jr. But the proposed trade collapsed when Griffey told the Mariners he would use his right to block all deals unless Seattle sent him to Cincinnati.

Cedeño hit .313 with four homers, 36 RBI and a team-record 66 steals, second in the major leagues behind Arizona's Tony Womack. He is eligible for salary arbitration after making $487,500.

"Cedeño is almost a perfect fit for us," Dierker said. "We have more ground to cover in center field in the new stadium. We felt we needed a real burner in center to cover the ground."

Dotel was 8-3 with a 5.38 ERA in 14 starts and five relief appearances, striking out 85 in 85 1-3 innings. Kessel, 23, was 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA for the Gulf Coast League Mets following shoulder surgery, then we 1-2 with a 4.63 ERA at Class A St. Lucie.

"Dotel is a young dominating pitcher," Hunsicker said. "Because of his talent and his power arm he was pushed rather aggressively through the Mets' system and thrown into a pressure packed pennant race this season in a pressure city. This kid gave us an exciting look at what we can expect."